Men’s Hockey Walks the Huskies 4-1, Wins in Beanpot Third-Place Game

Harvard men’s ice hockey beat the Northeastern Huskies 4-1 in dominant fashion at the 73rd annual Beanpot Tournament consolation round, securing its second straight third-place finish against the same school.

Northeastern struggled to score all game, due in part to the absence of junior forward Dylan Hryckowian, who leads the Huskies in goals, assists, and points.

From the first puck drop, Harvard (13-10-1, 10-6-0 ECAC) was buzzing in the offensive zone, generating from both the rush and in-zone pressure. The Crimson only grew stronger as the game progressed, and the lone goal for Northeastern (12-14-1, 7-10-0 HE) was not enough for the Huskies to mount a comeback.

Despite trading early penalties, Harvard capitalized on its momentum when senior forward Marek Hejduk carried the puck into the zone and fired a cross-ice pass to the ready stick of senior forward Phil Tresca.

Though Northeastern’s junior goaltender Lawton Zacher made the initial stop, junior defenseman Matthew Morden crashed hard into the crease, batting the rebound out of the air to give Harvard the early 1-0 lead.

The Crimson’s superior speed and passing created immense pressure around Zacher’s crease all night. The Huskies’ early offense was hindered, and Harvard’s defense had plenty of time to rest ahead of the few times it was needed.

Northeastern had a chance to tie the game late in the first period when Harvard freshman forward Richard Gallant took a slashing penalty. However, the Crimson’s stellar penalty kill, along with a diving save from sophomore goaltender Ben Charette, kept the Huskies from sneaking one by Harvard.

“It was nice to see us be able to give him a little bit of goal support,” said the Crimson’s Head Coach, Ted Donato ‘91, when asked about Charette’s performance. “I thought he was excellent. It looked like he was going to give us a great night from the start of the game.”

The second period continued the special teams deadlock, as both teams traded power plays with nothing to show for it.

The Crimson appeared to score on the skater-up advantage when captain Joe Miller ripped a one-timer past Zacher, but a Huskies challenge for goaltender interference overturned the goal.

Harvard then faltered, as a defensive breakdown between senior defenseman Ryan Healey and Morden left space open on the left point, allowing Northeastern’s sophomore forward Joe Connor to snipe the puck over Charette’s glove.

The Crimson didn’t waste any time regaining the momentum. A few minutes after the tying goal, freshman forward Aidan Lane found fellow freshman forward Chase Stefanek through traffic at the blue line, giving him a clean shot past Zacher to make it 2-1.

Staving off the routine slate of late-game penalties the Crimson tends to take—Boston College capitalized on two Harvard penalties in the semifinal round a week ago—a tipped goal by Gallant stretched the Crimson’s lead to two.

With 14:38 left in the final period, sophomore forward Sean Keohane squared up from the point, hoping to secure his third career goal in a four-game span. With Gallant’s deflection, Keohane was credited with the assist, marking the fifth point of his career.

An arguably wise move to hold a Northeastern player off the rush put sophomore defenseman Lucas St. Louis in the penalty box for the second time.

As luck would have it, Husky freshman forward Jack Pechar was left unusually open at the left post and scored with only 11 seconds left on Northeastern’s power play.

Donato’s challenge for offsides reversed the goal, however, and St. Louis was saved from defending against even greater pressure in the final minutes.

With Zacher pulled, Tresca scored on the empty net, giving himself a multi-point game alongside Morden.

If any game is to give Harvard momentum, a good outing at the Beanpot sets the team up well for the final slate of ECAC contests as it looks to finalize postseason seeding.

The Crimson face off against Brown and Yale in its final road trip of the season, two teams it bested back in December. Both games begin at 7:00 p.m. EST and be streamed on ESPN+.

— Staff Writer Nate M. Bolan can be reached at [email protected].

— Staff Writer Owen Butler can be reached at [email protected].

— Staff Writer Kai I. Russell can be reached at [email protected].